It’s only three blocks long, but it connects the Dequindre Cut to Milliken State Park and the Detroit RiverWalk.

And it’s a beautiful three blocks.

Today, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and others cut ribbons on both ends of the trail to mark the official opening of the Dequindre Trail Extension.

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy also unveiled their new banners along the Dequindre Trail and Cut. Those banners were designed by local school children and reflect a series of themes, such as “play”, “grow”, and “inspire.”

The city of Detroit has added another couple miles of bike lanes this spring on St. Jean between Jefferson and Mack Avenues. (Two miles? Yes, we count both the northbound and southbound lanes.) The city was repaving St. Jean using federal stimulus funding and suggested adding the bike lanes.

These bike lanes help complete a portion of the Conner Creek Greenway, which will eventually stretch nine miles from the Detroit River to Eight Mile Road (and hopefully beyond!)

Sandi Svoboda sent us this photo of her giving them the thumbs up while riding on St. Jean. Sandi is a staff writer for the Metro Times and authored the recent articles on cycling in Detroit. She’s also a dedicated bike commuter.

She also added a Metro Times news blog entry titled Streets Completing.

The city of Highland Park is currently updating their recreation master plan.

Surprisingly enough, their 1999 plan “promotes the implementation of bike lanes throughout the city in an effort to promote both a linked park and school system as well as non-motorized traffic” (according to the city’s master plan.) We’re trying to find a copy of the original 1999 plan which supposedly have greater details.

Even still, we do have proposed bike lane map, which is fairly good. Our only thoughts are:

• McNichols needs bike lanes. They are specified in the Detroit plan.
• It’s too bad there’s no clear continuing route for Glendale over to Oakland, which is a fairly minor issue.
• We’re not sure why Midland was chosen rather than continuing on Puritan.
• It might be wise adding a connection between Second and Third at the southern city boundary. That would tie together the two Detroit routes. McNichols would tied them together on the northern boundary.
• The railroad should be highlighted as a future shared-use pathway called the Inner Circle Greenway.

What is odd about the city’s master plan is they recommend a single bike lane on the east side of Hamilton. That is not a safe or proper design.

Of course, none of this has been implemented to date. Highland Park has been through some tumultuous times of late. Still, these plans certainly open the door for the future.

MDOT recently announced another round of Transportation Enhancement grants. This funding comes from the federal transportation bill and is the major funding source for bike projects in Michigan.

There are a couple bike-related local projects receiving this funding.

The first is for a Anthony Wayne Drive, which is really a continuation of Second and Third Streets through the Wayne State University campus in Detroit. This street of road will be made into a Complete Street, including more bike lanes. These bike lanes will connect with those planned by the New Center Council on Second Avenue to the north and those planned by the city to the south.

The second project is less exciting from a cycling perspective, though it does include bike racks.

The village of Lake Orion and Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority will develop a project that will create a sense of arrival and enhance the historic nature of a unique downtown district. The project area includes Broadway Street, from M-24 to Shadboldt, and Flint Street, from Lapeer to Anderson. Project elements include replacing streetlight globes and installing brick pavers, benches, bike racks, trees and tree grates. The project cost is $684,535, including $444,948 in federal TE funds and $239,587 in match from the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority.

Below are some snippets from recent bike-related articles around the Metro area.

Dequindre Cut extension opens Thursday

From Crain’s Detroit Business:

Local and state dignitaries plan to officially open the Dequindre Cut extension Thursday.

The trail connects the first section of the Dequindre Cut Greenway from Woodbridge Street south to Atwater Street near the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor and the Detroit RiverWalk, creating a continuous pedestrian and bike path from the river for about a mile into the city, nearly all the way to Eastern Market.

Green Alley breaks ground

From The Detroit News:

Detroit is now a few weeks away from having its first “green alley” — an eco-friendly patch of urban infrastructure behind the two Midtown businesses that spearheaded the project.

On Tuesday, a backhoe started tearing up the concrete, which will be recycled. Last week, the city government finished relining the late 19th-century sewer line with fiberglass-reinforced poly resin. Next week begins the preparation for permeable concrete, historic brick pavers and indigenous plants that will create a better-functioning alley with a pedestrian-bicycling pathway.

Bike route to link Marine City with Ludington

From The Times Herald out of Port Huron:

A new attraction is in the works for the Blue Water Area to bring in tourists — bicycle tourists, that is.

U.S. Bike Route 20 is in the development phase, but cyclists someday might be able to use a route from Marine City to Ludington — if all goes well.

On a national scale, the goal for U.S. Bicycle Route 20 is to connect the Bluewater Ferry in Marine City with the Oregon Coast, several cycling Web sites indicate.